750 Motor Club Arrived At A Blustery Silverstone International

11 Formulae battled gale force winds and rain showers at the home of British motorsport.

The BMW Car Club enjoyed a packed grid of 32 cars in the various classes. Michael Cutt qualified on pole in his BMW E36 M3. Race one and Rick Kerry was the man to take the lead from the start, a lead which he would never lose. David Kempton always followed close behind with pole sitter Cutt finishing in 3rd. In the M2 class it was Graham Crowhurst who was victorious finishing ahead of some of the M1 cars. Class 6 went the way of Jim Benson and Matt Page won the C class. Richard Harrison was the sole class 4 entrant beating a few of the other drivers in the classes above. Race two saw Graham Crowhurst jump into the lead ahead of the more powerful M1 cars, eventually Cutt gained the lead with Kempton behind. Lap 6 saw Cutt retire to the pit lane promoting Kempton and race one winner Kerry. They raced each other hard only being a few seconds apart for the duration of the race, Kempton came out on top by just 0.37seconds from Kerry. Crowhurst again won the M2 class and finished a fine 3rd overall, class 6 was again was won by Benson and the cup class by Page.

Bikesports had a trio of races across the weekend. The first of which being held in damp conditions at the start due to a brief spell of rain. Josh Smith landed pole position by just 0.07 seconds from Scott Mittell in his every improving Mittell. Off the line in race one it was Mittell who got the jump and took the lead. Smith retired on lap 5, leaving Mittell to enjoy a lights to flag victory. Charles hall and Ash Hicklin rounded off the podium with strong races, finishing very close to each other. Joe Stables was the class B winner finishing 5th overall. Race two and it was the same order as race one with Mittell enjoying another victory. Race three saw the same winner once again in Mittell, and Charles Hall finishing in 2nd. Sadly Ash Hicklin had a coming together with another car on the first lap, this allowed Richard Stables to round the podium off in third.

In the RGB it was another dominant performance from Chippy Wesemael in his Mittell MC-53 he powered to double victory adding to his tally this season. Race one saw Richard Morris finish in second ahead of Danny Andrew, with the top three’s best lap times being within tenths of each other. Race two saw the second and third place men reverse positions with Andrew finishing in second only 2.02 seconds behind Chippy and setting fastest lap along the way. Morris finished in third with the trio again lapping close together.

Formula Vee saw a fantastic grid for the weekend, with reserves having to be put on the list due to the demand. Daniel Hands qualified on pole for the first of two races. Race one was a slipstreaming dream, the lead changed hands several times throughout the course of the race. Graham Gant placed his car at the right time to end up at the front of the line and win from Daniel Hands and 2018 champion Craig Pollard. Race two was another close affair between the top 4, lap 6 saw Gant take the lead to take a double victory, this time Pollard came home in second from Hands in third.

The Hot Hatch championship saw serial winner Ben Rushworth enjoy double victory, but it was not without drama. Off the start in race one it was Rushworth who led from Chris Southcott and Steve Sawley. Garry Prebble having changed his cars from a Peugeot to a Honda followed in fourth. All changed on lap 7 as Rushworth’s tailgate decided to literally fly off on the entry to Stowe, causing him to spin and Southcott to go through. Rushworth continued in a new lighter Integra which now had several handling problems. Lap 10 saw more drama with Southcott having to retire with engine problems allowing Rushworth to take back the lead and winning. Steve Sawley finished 2nd with Prebble in third. In Class B it was Martin Ward who took victory ahead of the returning Scott Sharp and Callum Houchen enjoying his first podium finish of the season. Class C saw David Drinkwater continue his winning streak finishing ahead of Ian Williamson and Matt Rowling. Race two and with a new tailgate Rushworth was never troubled on his way to victory. With the Class A competitors falling like flies, Southcott didn’t get out for the second race, and Sawley blew an engine driving around the perimeter road of the circuit. There was drama when Rushworth was giving a 15 second penalty for track limits, he edged out enough time to beat the sole remaining class A car of Prebble. Martin Ward enjoyed double victory in Class B and third overall, Sharp again finishing in second. Will Hunt rounded off the podium on his return to Hot Hatch in his new Fiesta. Class C saw Drinkwater victorious once again from title rival Ian Williamson with Matt Rowling rounding off the podium.

Classic Stock Hatch thew a surprise pole sitter, James Haslehurst had never qualified in the top few rows until today. He took a superb pole from Andy Philpotts and Matt Rozier. Race one and sadly the dream start Haslehurst got didn’t last as he retired to the pits after two laps. This allowed the returning Marcus Ward to take the battle to the lead cars of Philpotts and Lee Scott. Ward led the pack for a three laps until a move by Scott saw him take first place and cross the line to win. Ward finished a fine second with Rozier finishing third. Race two ended just before the sudden downpour, this time Haslehurst got the start and finish he had dreamed off, he was pushed all the way by Rozier and Scott to win by just 0.26 seconds, with Rozier finishing ahead of championship rival Scott.

The Clio 182 championship couldn’t be much closer between Ryan Polley and James Bark as they lied level on points. Qualifying saw Bark on pole from the returning Jack Kingsbury, Polley lined up third but required an engine change between qualifying and the first race. The first couldn’t of been much closer, Bark led the way. By lap 3 it was Polley who found himself in front as Bark dropped behind Kingsbury. Gaining on Polley, Bark went for several moves, the two having contact around the lap. Bark ran wide and retired with a damaged car at the link. Behind the two of them there was a five car battle for the final podium positions. Kingsbury finished a comfortable second, it was Scott Edgar who came out on top to take a fine third place. Race two and the heavens opened. Treacherous conditions greeted the drivers with several having offs, it was a case of staying on until the end. Polley enjoyed double victory to boast his championship effort, with rival Don De Graaff chasing him hard in second just 0.75 seconds away. Kingsbury enjoyed another podium finish in third.

Sports Specials enjoyed a spectacular array of cars on a packed grid. It was Andy Hiley who took pole from Martin Gambling. In Class B it was Chris Pyke, Class C saw Stewart Mutch in a fine fifth overall. In the Ma7da series it was Ben Powney who took pole from former Locost race Steve Paddock. Race one saw a close battle between Hiley and Paul Boyd for overall honours, it was Hiley who took victory by 0.76 seconds, rounding off the podium was Paul Collingwood in his Eclipse SM1. Class B saw Chris Pyke enjoy a commanding victory, Class C was won by Sylvia Mutch as Stewart retired on lap 11. In the Ma7da series, Powney enjoyed another victory comfortably finishing ahead of Steve Paddock and James Millman. Race two was held in torrential rain, conditions proved challenging. With power not being so much of an advantage, Stewart Mutch enjoyed a throughly deserved overall victory by over 13 seconds from race one winner Hiley. Lee Emm finished in third to make up for his DNF in race one. Chris Pyke again won class B, in the Ma7da series Powney was victorious once again from Lee Dolby and James Millman. Steve Paddock had a heavy off making contact with the barrier, his SRB racing car held up very well in the crash, allowing him to escape serious injury, we wish him well in his recovery and no doubt will see him back out very soon.

The Welsh sports and saloon car championship was a guest entry for the weekend, bringing along an eclectic mix of cars from an Audi R8 LMS to a Ford KA. Not surprisingly it was the Audi of Keith Butcher on pole from the very fast Ford Escort of Dave Cockell. Race one an the Audi of Butcher was in the lead, the Ford Escort of Dave Cockell kept Butcher honest all race until near the end the Escort began to suffer a mechanical problem. Cockell held on to finish second ahead of Chris Everill in his Ginetta G50. Race two and Butcher carried on his form it was a closer battle this time with Everill in his Ginetta with only a second separating them at the end. Dave Cockell sadly retired the Escort after two laps. Mark Jones took a fine third in his Seat Leon.

Club Enduro had a 51 car grid for the two hour race. On pole was Chris and Mika Brown in their BMW M4 from Carl Swift and Rob Baker in their Honda Civic. Current championship leaders Luke Sedzikowski and David Whitmore lined up in fourth. The start of the race and it was the BMW of Luke and David who got the jump going from fourth to first in one lap. Carl and Rob also moved up a place to lay second overall, with the pole sitters in third. Having led for just over half the race Luke Sedzikowski pitted, they had a puncture on the left front. This required some maintenance from the pit crew, taking longer then expected it dropped them back and out of contention for the win. Rob Baker and Carl Swift had troubles of their own having to retire with a mechanical problem on lap 70 after producing strong pace. Joe Taylor in his Lotus Elise S3 quietly chipped away at the leaders and cars in front, he found himself in the lead with 11 laps to go. With a healthy lead, Joe crossed the line to win. Chris and Mika Brown fought back and set quick lap times towards the end in the their quest to catch Taylor but had to settle for second, the final podium spot was taken by Rory and Owen in their BMW E36 M3 finishing just 6 seconds behind second place after 90 laps. After all their troubles Luke and David finished in fourth retaining their championship lead. Class B saw Steve Cheetham victorious once again finishing 6 seconds ahead of Andy Baylie and Luke Schlewitz. Class C and currently leaders Imran Khan and Andrew Lightstead failed to finish after their bonnet flipped up and damaged the windscreen beyond repair, this allowed Darren and James Kell to take victory in their MX5 from Ian Anderson and Amanda Black in their Ginetta G40 GT5.